A/N: Thanks to Queen Boa, I realized that Daniel is very much a boy's name and Danielle is very much a girl's name. But, as I told her, I feel like I'm bridging the, uh, bridges of sexism. So go with it, mmkay?

A/N 2: Thanks to everyone that reviewed last chapter. I'm surprised that anyone likes this fic at all, the idea and plot is so ancient. But your comments definitely make me remember what was so special about writing B/A fic in the first place.

It was sometime later when Angel woke up. He stirred, his eyes shifting to Buffy, seeing with relief that she was undisturbed… that she still slept peacefully. His night vision prowled the darkness with that of a predator going in for the kill. He could feel it, that evil… the evil that he knew he had sensed before. It was near.

It was coming for Buffy.

He stood, muscle's flexing, eyes darting around, and dancing on the balls of his feet. He looked cautiously back at Buffy, decided after a struggle of inner turmoil to leave her sleeping. She rarely slept well, he knew, and he would do whatever it took to protect her from whatever it was that sought the slayer as its prey.

He crept stealthily through the mansion, yet he knew there was nothing there. Most demons learned quickly not to disturb the home of the dreaded and sadistic Angelus.

It was outside that he spotted the figure. The presence of evil was so strong it threatened to choke him. He almost staggered under the weight of it before shaking his head and forcing his body to stand up rigidly.

The shadow crept closer, and he got a full view of the vampire that threatened the woman he loved. It made him blink, a look of disbelief creeping onto his face.

"Daniel?" he finally croaked.

She laughed, delighted with his bewildered look. "What?" she purred, "who were you expecting? Darla?" She looked around, laughed again. "Wait… that's right. You killed her."

Angel took in a sharp breath of air, refusing to let her see how much she'd caught him off guard. "Didn't Mussini banish you?"

"Oh, Angelus, you really have been out of the picture for a while, haven't you?" Daniel examined her nails. They were long, the colour of blood-red. "It seems like I've been released."

"What do you want, Daniel? You know better than to come here, this is my territory."

"What do I want?" She began to walk around him, a look of annoyance creeping into her face. "I want to find the slayer, kill her, get my Resurrection and… lead the race of vampires and men alike."

Angel's voice was steel, "I'll kill you before I let you come any where near her."

Daniel sighed, looking at him sadly. "It's true then. I'd heard that you became the slayer's pet. Yet, at the time I didn't really believe that the great Angelus would let himself be controlled by anyone, much less a slayer."

"A lot of things happened to Angelus since you were banished. I'm not the only one who's been out of the loop for a while."

She hissed at him. "What is it really, Angelus? Money? Protection? A little bit of blood here, a little bit of blood there?" Seeing that her words were having no effect, she leaned back and studied him. There was something different about him, that was for sure. She remembered the Angelus of a hundred years ago, bursting with the wild, uncontrollable lust for blood that all fledglings seemed to have. And my how he had been cruel… to the likes that she had been attracted. The Angelus of today smelled different… like the dangerous stink of humanity. "Or perhaps…" Daniel mused, "a little fuck here… a little fuck there. I've heard that slayer's have real powerful muscles."

Angel growled. Daniel nodded in satisfaction, glad that she had hit a nerve. "Really? Can't keep her satisfied, Angelus? According to Darla you had quite the appetite for sexual pleasures. Or is she not the one doing it for you?"

He rushed at her, forgetting momentarily that he had absolutely no plan of attack and no weapon to attack with. It didn't matter though, as halfway towards her he was hit with a sudden power and stumbled heavily back, dropping to one knee. "Master," he mumbled. He frowned, looking back up at Daniel, trying to move towards her, trying to attack her…

Then not remembering why.

Daniel smiled happily to herself and clapped her hands. Seemed that her powers worked against even the strongest of wills. And she was sure that Angelus had a strong mind. She surveyed her waiting slave in interest. "Why are you working for the slayer?"

"To kill shit like you."

Daniel narrowed her eyes. Apparently, she hadn't been able to break him completely. Yet, he was still on one knee, didn't try to harm her… but he was fighting. She applied a little more pressure, but she knew if she surrounded him too much he might be damaged. And she didn't want to damage Angelus.

She walked around him, concentrating hard. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Soul," he finally answered. "Gypsies…" he struggled with himself for a minute, "master."

Daniel paused, considered. Interesting, cursed with the soul of a human. He was putting up a fight against her powers, she knew, but he wasn't nearly strong enough. "Still, Angelus, the slayer. That's a bit low, don't you think?"

Angel thought of the question. Daniel was asking a question. Daniel was his master, she had complete control. Where she ended he began, he didn't know. He felt himself get dizzy, she was demanding him to answer her question. He had to do what she asked. He tried to clear his mind, but the only thing he could really concentrate on was her power and all she stood for. Every vampire longed to serve under Daniel. The slayer, the harbinger of death to his kind, the symbol of fear, the beat of life…. He felt a sudden flash of understanding, a tiny bolt of fear. Oh God, Buffy….

Daniel sensed his hesitation and couldn't quite suppress the quick flash of annoyance. "Why are you working for the slayer?" she yelled, her patience quickly disappearing.

Still, he continued to ignore her, doing battle somewhere in his mind. Perhaps, she had underestimated his power. It wasn't everyday that she was forced to use her power against an older vampire. She shrugged. She supposed there were always other ways to get what she wanted. She concentrated, sending a bit of pain with her message.

Angel cried out as it hit him. He welcomed the pain, though, for it helped him clear his mind, allowing him to think for a second or two. Sensing the truth would piss Daniel off, he grinned and tilted his head in clear disobedience. "Love makes you do funny things," Angel said without missing a beat.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Back in the mansion, as if sensing that her lover was in danger, Buffy woke with a start. Without turning around she knew he was gone. 'Becoming something of a tradition,' she thought bitterly. She could sense he was near and her heart suddenly sped up with worry. He wouldn't have left her unless it was something important, she was sure of that.

'He might have left for another reason…' her mind viciously reminded her. But she refused to think about the other possibility, refused to let that dread enter her heart.

She let herself stretch for a moment, wincing at the sharp pain in her joints and bones. Whatever patrol had been, it had taken its toll on her. Worriedly, she looked around, creeping through the mansion until she neared the doorway. She froze for a minute, looking on with a horrified gaze as Angel kneeled down before the vampire she had faced the other night.

Her breath caught, her heart sped up… her mind conjured up pictures of the fear that she lived in terrifying terror with every day.

She shook it off, forced herself to walk down to where her lover and her foe were poised in a conversation. Buffy ducked behind a tree, creeping closer in order to listen in. She told herself it was to get the gist of the plan Angel was using… not because of that other reason her heart refused to face.

A grim look on her face, Buffy surveyed the sky and couldn't help but notice that sunrise was but minutes away. She let out a quick breath, skirting as close to the couple as she could without being noticed. Her stomach clenched as she viewed Angel's face. He looked awed, slightly impressed with Daniel, but somewhat apathetic to the rest of the world. Maybe she was imagining things. Or maybe she was jealous, but Buffy doubted it.

She heard a light vampiric giggle and groaned. What the hell was going on?

"Normally, I would not be very forgiving of this, but I think we can make exceptions. But be careful young Angelus, Mussini, is not as forgiving as I am." Buffy resisted the urge to yell out the obvious Star Wars infatuation. If it was any other time she would have found it funny, as it was, she was too preoccupied by the encroaching ball of fire in the sky. And the fact that Angel was completely oblivious to said ball.

"Yes, Master," Angel said in response to the other vampire's statement. 'Yes master, did he just say master??? Oh, this is so not good,' Buffy thought hysterically, 'time to break up the party.'

"Excuse me," Buffy declared in a singsong voice, stepping from behind her protective tree. "But have either of you checked your watch lately? No? Didn't think so. 'Cause its slayer party time." She held a tree branch in her hand, a dangerous imitation of the stake that she knew how to use.

"Slayer," Daniel hissed in that typical vampire snake way.

Buffy just smiled at her, dancing on the back of her feet, and circling her opponent. She felt a tiny fire ignite in her gut as she noticed the small fear etched upon the vampire's face. Daniel feigned a lunge and pulled out a the last moment, snarling as Buffy stumbled sideways from a quick duck.

Daniel took a few steps back, looking at Buffy with a calculated smile. "Angelus," she purred, "I seem to be having somewhat of a situation."

Angel bowed his head, "Master?" he murmured.

Buffy felt her heart speed up, her hands shake lightly around her makeshift stake. She felt the hair prickle on the back of her neck. Couldn't fight Angel again… couldn't fight Angel again.

Daniel folded her arms over her chest. "You fight the girl, Angelus." She watched as he hesitated and knew that he was fighting something deep inside of him. It made her feel nauseous. She shook her head, growled at him, and forced his mind into obedience.

Angel stood to help her. All clear thought filtered out of his brain and the last of his struggles died along with it. He was surrounded, almost on another plane, Daniel's command was all that remained. He stood, smelled the pumping blood of his prey and dove at her.

Buffy yelped in surprise as he took her down. She rolled, flipping to her feet and circled him. "Angel…" she whispered. "Come on… I know you're there."

His blank look was her only response. Her stomach rolled over in fear. Gone was the cold look of Angelus, the guilty eyes of Angel… she couldn't place what her love had become. It was like he'd forgotten who he was.

She could do it, fight him. But she couldn't ever give it her all. She ducked as he swung a punch at her, jumped out of the way of his next attack. She circled him again, ducking what he threw at her, careful not to let herself get caught up in an all out fight.

Daniel watched them for a moment, admiring the way the slayer refused to give in to the fight, but disgusted that such sworn enemies could break the strongest rules of good and evil. She carefully backed up, knowing that as soon as she was gone Angelus would be out of her command. But that was fine. It would ruin all if he killed the girl too soon.

As soon as Daniel got a good distance away, Angel's mind began to clear. He felt himself get dizzy and the world blurred around him. He winced, fighting to think straight.

Buffy noticed Angel's hesitation and decided to use it to her advantage. She reared back, cracking her fist into his jaw. 'Ouch, he'll lose a few teeth with that one,' Buffy thought, trying to decide if she felt bad about it.

"Ow!" Angel cried out, head spinning with the force of Buffy's punch. Buffy! His eyes widened with sudden comprehension as she wound up to sock him one again. "No, wait! It's me."

"Angel?" she asked, a tiny bit sheepish.

Angel looked wearily around, noticed that Daniel was gone. He sniffed the air, his nostrils nearly stinging with the warning of a fast approaching sunrise. "Maybe we should get inside..."

Without saying anything, Buffy turned on her heel and marched towards the house. "Nooo… wouldn't want to turn into a ball of dust… can't even freakin' apologize first," she muttered under her breath. Angel pretended not to hear her and she felt little pinpricks of tears burn in her eyes. She felt the familiar hurt claw into her chest. The hurt that warned her of the dangers of facing off against the man she loved.

Angel followed behind her, too bewildered and thoughtful to say anything to comfort her. He let out a sigh, whatever was happening, it wasn't going to help their relationship any.

TBC